A Practiced Maneuver
by Warfang
Summary: This was born to prove that a FinnXDark Ace fanfic could be written, and then it ate me. It will most likey turn into a monstrosity that will eventaully pave the way for the FinnDA to happen...
1. Chapter 1

Rant-

I, as a writer, take it as a personal assault that a FinnXDarkAce does not exist because no one can conjecture on how it might come to be. Hello, we are writers, we have something called creative license.

Now, I am not about to do something to trivial and insipid as have the feelings for each other bloom out of nowhere.

The Dark Ace holds the Storm Hawks in contempt, and Finn is terrified of the Dark Ace. These issues need to be resolved in order for a believable fanfic to be written. I, of course, am not pairing shipping, because I want reviews on how this story can be improved. If you leave thinking 'No way that could happen' or any variations thereof, I have failed as a writer. Without further ado, I give you-

I do not own Storm Hawks!

On with the Story!

The Dark Ace was finally allowed out of the Cyclonian airspace after suffering injuries from the last encounter with the Storm Hawks.

Aerrow had learned a nasty throw technique that had actually dislocated the Dark Ace's shoulder. But Master Cyclonis had wanted the delivery to go without a hitch, so he had gotten up and faced Aerrow again.

The kid was sentimental enough not to hit him in his weak point. Any seasoned warrior would have attacked his arm and put him out of his misery. Instead, Aerrow drew the Dark Ace away from the crates.

Piper had crept around them and snuck into one of the crates, where she pulled something out and ran.

Snarling, the Dark Ace made a wild swing at Aerrow and chased her. She had tripped, and the package had gone flying over the edge of the Terra. The marksman dove off the Terra after the package. He engaged his parachute and disappeared into the lower fog. Aerrow then came by on his Skimmer, rescued Piper, and left the Dark Ace and the shipment alone.

He was not going paranoid that at any moment, the Storm Hawks would be back to finish the job. He was not losing sleep. He was not irritable, or cranky, or-

"Dark Ace." Master Cyclonis appeared in his vision. "I have personally checked the crates. Are you certain that Piper stole something?"

"Yes, Master Cyclonis." –he was paying attention to Master Cyclonis and not the thought of a young blond haired male throwing himself off the edge of a Terra.

"There is nothing missing."

"Master Cyclonis?"

"Everything that should have been in those boxes _is_ in those boxes. I think you need a vacation."

"Master Cyclonis, the marksman threw himself off of a Terra after the package. Perhaps something was being transported that wasn't reported?"

Master Cyclonis gave him a long, hard look. "Leave us." She commanded the guards. She waited a pace for the outside hall to clear.

"I reviewed the tapes. The Storm Hawks removed a bomb." The Dark Ace lost his breath. A bomb? The marksman had dove after a bomb?

"It was faultily made, and the one who designed it to kill all of Cyclonia by removing the heart of the Terra and perhaps me is now under 'review' from the Sky Knight Council. The bomb would have exploded before reaching us, and damaged the Terra assigned for refueling. That Terra has civilians living on it."

Master Cyclonis stared that Dark Ace. "I want to know why the Storm Hawks risked their lives to save ours."

He nodded. "Bug their ship with intelligence devices since you know the layout of the Condor. Return immediately and you are not to be discovered, understood?"

The Dark Ace kneeled, placing a hand over his heart. "It shall be as you command."

He approached the docked Condor quietly, using his wings instead of his Skimmer. There was one shot at getting this done. The door to the hangar bay wasn't open, and no way to open it manually.

He would try for the railing by the bridge. There was a risk that the helmsman, a Merb called Stork, would see him and launch him back off the ship but it was a necessary risk.

He landed, a gust of wind actually knocking him over before he could close the wings. Stopping himself from growling aloud, he gripped the railing and waited for the wind to die down. Then he closed the wings and snuck onboard.

The bugs were small, with audio and limited video range. They would be able to hear off-screen, but could only see a short window. The Dark Ace stepped onto the table and placed two bugs into the ceiling.

He then crept down the hallway.

The kitchen was down to his left, but the Wallop was in there. The bathroom was down to the other side, but no way would bugging that be useful. The quarter's entrance was down the other hall. The Dark Ace crept over there. The faint strands of music reached his ears.

Someone was playing a guitar? "Finn, look, I know you hate horror flicks that are cheesy, but come on, it will be fun?"

"Piper, I've already sat through the other movies. Can't I just turn in early? I did nearly kill myself."

"Argh, fine. I'll tell the others that the shock caught up with you."

"Thanks."

Footsteps headed in his direction. The Dark Ace faded into the wall, and Piper went by within a foot of him. He followed her path mentally. So, the movies were in the hangar, eh? A dangerous place to bug for the time being.

The music started up again.

Now, Dark Ace has a weakness, just like every man does. He usually feeds the weakness, and Master Cyclonis knows about it.

Dark Ace loves music. Not the kind Ravess plays, always going faster. But this music…the Dark Ace crept closer.

It was Finn. He was strumming a guitar without amps and humming along to the song. _And it's all over now, baby blue_ he sang quietly. The guitar was electric, not the bulky curve kind that twanged.

Finn ended the song and started a new one. In the space when he was musing, the Dark Ace slipped a bug into the actual room before bugging the hallway. He then tore himself away after three songs.

The Storm Hawks were finishing their horror movie. The Dark Ace stepped into the kitchen and bugged the counters and the eating area.

He froze when he heard Radarr squawk.

"No Radarr, there are no more snacks until the morning patrol. You've had enough for tonight." Aerrow walked by the open door, scooping down to pull Radarr along. "Come on, it's time for bed."

The Dark Ace breathed a sigh of relief. He snuck into the Hangar and placed three bugs there. One bug by the door and two were put by the walls in the hangar midway. He thought about bugging the Skimmers, but that would be too noticeable if they cleaned their rides. And from the looks of things, the rides were cleaned very often.

The Dark Ace glanced over the Skimmers. Piper's helicopter, Aerrow's with the co-pilot seat, something for the Merb, and the Wallop's ride. A plain, yellow shield Skimmer was placed at the end.

Why did the marksman fly out first? Wasn't the leader supposed to lead the charge?

Reflecting on why Finn of all people would be the first off the Condor's runway, he crept closer. The Skimmer was plain. Nothing fancy.

The Dark Ace sat back on his heels. That just made no sense. Finn was a cocky, run his mouth kid. Why isn't his Skimmer reflecting that? The Dark Ace felt the Skimmer. There were no hidden catches, just a plain Skimmer, aha! a button that didn't deploy the wings.

The cross-bow popped up. The Dark Ace rolled his eyes. Was the kid secretly straight forward or something?

Sighing, and realizing that he had spent enough time on the Condor, the Dark Ace put the Skimmer back into its original condition.

He then left the Condor.

To be continued…

Author's Note- Originally, I thought just a one-shot. Something easy to believe because it satisfies the parameters. No. Now the fanfic has grown monstrously and could take a lot of chapters to finish. Please tell me what you think, I'll reveal who wants Master Cyclonis dead later in the series! (This is turning into a fanfic, not a challenge.)


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, I forgot to put down that Finn is singing an actual song called 'Baby Blues' (not the comic) or something of the like. I just forgot to put that it's a real song and I did not make it up, it's just that I needed something totally out of the Rock he listens to to pique the interest.

I do not own Storm Hawks.

On with the Story!

A Practiced Manuever Chapter 2

The Dark Ace stared at the console as though it would make the day go by faster. He had returned with no mishaps, and after putting through Master Cyclonis' happy mood that he could do something right, had linked the feed into the visual and auditory display.

The room was adjacent to the hallway where Master Cyclonis worked, and well defended. The Storm Hawks certainly weren't about to discover that they were being watched.

Although the Dark Ace wished that they did know that everything they did was being watched. These kids played more than they actually practiced. How in Master Cyclonis' name did he keep losing to them?

They squabbled and fought just like teenagers cooped up in a house during the thunderstorm. Aerrow was the only one keeping them together. Piper was constantly sliding an insult at Finn, who deflected or engaged her. Junko was either eating, sleeping, working, or with Finn. Stork kept making depressing remarks and checking the Condor. Radarr did whatever he wanted, usually checking on Aerrow's Skimmer.

The Dark Ace sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. They were children.

"How goes the observation? Any word on why they removed the bomb?"

Ah, yes. The reason why no random Talon was allowed to do this job, because of the 'touchy' subject that would be found out.

"No word, Master Cyclonis. They engage in nearly all other activities except planning how to stop Cyclonia. It's like coincidence that they even know what we do or where we are in the first place."

Master Cyclonis sighed. "No matter, Piper should help rally the team at some point. It's only been two days, and they are still docked. Nothing of great importance must be- hold on."

The Storm Hawks were gathering around the table in the bridge. Piper laid down a map, and her team mates crowded around.

"Okay, we need to go back to Terra Sahaar and get information on the next assassination. If Cyclonis gets killed, Cyclonia devolves into a faction. Best scenario is that they exhaust themselves and collapse internally, which would allow Atmosia an easy victory- and a pointless one. Cyclonia would just revive later under a new leader. The more likely scenario is that Cyclonia would do random attacks that shatter Atmosia and put the people under various rules and states of panic. Also bad news for Atmosia."

Aerrow nodded. "The best way to deal with the Cyclonia threat is to battle them and defeat them. If Cyclonis goes on trial, then Atmosia wins. The Cyclonians would be a reduced threat after such a decisive victory."

"Dude, I don't think who ever hired the assassins thought about it like that. Whoever they are, they are thinking short term. Like, they never even considered pissing off the Dark Ace."

Stork interjected "Maybe because they conjectured that if Cyclonis is dead, since Dark Ace rarely leaves her, that he would be dead as well."

Junko interjected, "Well, how would they know he wasn't busy fighting us?"

Finn shot back at the same time as Aerrow "For now, let's assume that they don't."

Master Cyclonis glared at the Dark Ace. "They behave like children? They just reduced hundreds of years of Cyclonian rule into the opening lines of their discussion of chore duty for the next week."

The Dark Ace nodded. On the screen, Piper finished plotting the course with Stork and handed out a hat. There were slips of paper inside.

"Okay, whoever pulls the chore, has to do it. No more swapping jobs around, guys."

Finn whined. "Piper, I pulled cleaning the hangar area five times in a row. There was no way I was going to do it a sixth time."

Nevertheless, Finn reached a hand into the hat and pulled out a slip. "On second thought, the hangar's cleaner than the bathroom." He eyed the slip with disgust, then sighed and pocketed the slip. "I hope no one needs the bathroom tonight, it's always best to get it done and let the cleaning factors set in overnight."

Stork glanced at his slip. "The box of potpourri is in the hall closet where I left it."

"Thanks, dude."

Aerrow drew next. "Hallway. Radarr and I can take that."

Junko reached in. "The cooking schedule?" He asked.

"Well, you see, this is actually for the next month. You confer with the team about whose turn it is to clean, cook, or shop for specific items, and can participate yourself. This is suppose to help manage the supplies." Piper smiled at Junko.

"Oh, okay."

Piper then reached in a pulled out the last slip. "Windows. That shouldn't be too hard. Okay, everyone, as usual, clean up after yourselves and you are responsible for your own Skimmer, unless you need help from Stork or Junko. Sorry, Radarr. You specialize in Aerrow's Skimmer."

The blue haired creature chirruped at her, obviously content with helping Aerrow on his chores.

The Dark Ace sighed and leaned back in the chair, kicking his legs up onto the console.

"Well, that was the most information that I've learned from them in the past three days." Master Cyclonis rolled her eyes at his statement.

"I'll see about getting bigger screens with a better resolution, and cleaning out a space in here."

"Master Cyclonis?"

"I want you to eat, sleep, and train in here. When you need to be elsewhere, I will be watching the Storm Hawks. They may be vindicated in their decision, but they still know more about who's trying to kill me than I do."

The Dark Ace thought for a moment. Master Cyclonis was right. If he wanted to protect her, he would have to put up with the Storm Hawks. Not that the Storm Hawks would know.

"As you command, Master Cyclonis."

"Good. And get your feet off the console."

She swept out, most likely back to the paperwork for running the Cyclonian Empire. Without comment, the Dark Ace put his feet back on the floor and sat straight on his chair.

It was going to be a long ride to Terra Sahaar.

* * *

Observing the Storm Hawks once they were in the air was much more interesting. The Dark Ace put up a board with some flow charts and worked out the relationships between the crew, keeping track of their skills and even some of their hobbies.

He was bored. People watching had never been a hobby of his. He could spot a person trying to work their way across the ball room with intent to harass Master Cyclonis. He especially hated it when the matter wasn't urgent, but he still didn't just sit back and stare at people.

He preferred to be in their face and confront them.

Aerrow really did keep track of the Storm Hawks. He knew that what he did was dangerous, but rather than flinch in the face of danger, he turned his apprehension into a drive to achieve more.

A really good mental exercise considering that he had a barely working ship to fly in. The Condor had been a beauty when the Dark Ace had flown in her. Now she limped along, gliding through the skies with as much dignity as her under age crew could give her.

The Dark Ace turned his thoughts to Piper, who was supposedly working in her Crystal Lab. The Dark Ace snorted. That lab was hardly up to standards when the Condor was built. These kids certainly were tenacious to keep going.

Or maybe Piper had organized the lab better- he certainly hadn't checked when he had been there.

The Wallop was a hard worker. He was also naïve. Finn, the marksman (was that the kid's only battle ability?) could talk the Wallop into almost anything.

In fact, the only one Finn had trouble talking into going along with his hair-brained schemes was Piper, and he seemed to learn that if he gave her the opportunity to talk, she would never shut up. Finn had adopted the 'watch and then comment' tactic when showing her new things.

Stork was paranoid. Well, actually, he was very aware of what could happen to them. The Dark Ace estimated the Helmsman to be about twenty-four years old. He pointed the deduction out to Master Cyclonis.

Master Cyclonis gave him the 'you are an idiot' look.

"Merbian physiology," she began – oh, right, they had conquered Terra Merbia and she had studied them as well as their way of ruling- "is selective. The Condor did not magically fix itself. Most likely in the four or three years that I had conquered the Terra he escaped, found the Condor, and fixed her. And do you want to know why the Merb would be fifteen instead of twenty-four?"

The Dark Ace had a feeling that Master Cyclonis would tell him regardless.

"Yes, Master Cyclonis."

"That's because the Merbs age in influenced by their environments. The Merb Stork had lived for years in the wasteland. His body would have slowed the aging process in order to preserve his life as he was so far out of his natural element. Thus, his mind is aged, but his body survived the trauma mostly intact."

She glanced at the screen. "Mostly."

The small creature Radarr possessed not just independent thought, but displayed emotions (whenever the team slighted him in a small way- they all apologized), motivations, and inspiration from something a Storm Hawk said. He almost always was with Aerrow, or at the bridge.

The Dark Ace cleaned out his ears when he thought he heard Aerrow suggest to Stork that he let Radarr drive.

Then there was Finn. Again with the blond. The supposed rock-star and marksman of the team. The one who had dove for the bomb. Who the hell has the kind of mentality for diving after a bomb?

Nothing that Finn did suggested he was suicidal. Aside from when he enraged Piper and challenged Aerrow to spar, of course. Whenever he needed someone to talk to, he would go to Stork or Junko. And whenever he had a really good idea, he would share it with Radarr.

The blue creature that couldn't talk.

The Dark Ace wondered if he was really seeing Finn. He could, after all, see into the boy's room.

The Dark Ace shook himself. If the marksman was damaged goods was of no concern to him. He needed to know how the Storm Hawks planned to save Master Cyclonis and condemn her to a trial.

The Dark Ace stood up and proceeded to pace the room, keeping an eye on the monitors. To avoid someone overhearing the dialogue, there was an ear bud he was wearing that fed the noise into one ear.

He chose pacing because jogging in place was something he would not do where anyone coming to report to Master Cyclonis could see him.

He was still pacing when Master Cyclonis came into the room. She watched him, silently, from the doorway.

Rather than stop and address her, he continued around the room. Master Cyclonis squared her shoulders, and summoned him to her after a few more minutes had passed.

"The council wants to throw a ball for my birthday." The Dark Ace blinked at her. This wasn't new.

"They want to put the party on Terra Neon. They are offering to pay for it themselves, rather than out of the treasury."

Red flags went up in the Dark Ace's mind. Terra Neon was a place of distraction. It was bad enough with the crowds around Master Cyclonis on a good social party, but one on a foreign terra?

"I agree. Whoever wants me dead knows the inner workings of Cyclonia. I think we should let the party proceed."

Dark Ace started, then forced himself to kneel. He stared up into Master Cyclonis' eyes.

"You want to flush out the assassin."

Master Cyclonis grinned. "I also want to see how far the Storm Hawks will go to protect me from this 'undetected' threat. Seeing as how you wouldn't believe them if they told you someone was trying to kill me."

The Dark Ace groaned. "Are you really that bored, Master Cyclonis?"

She pulled the chair to where she was, and sat down. The doors closed behind her.

"Dark Ace, I don't know who wants to kill me. All I know is that it isn't me, you, or the Storm Hawks. The Cyclonian Council wouldn't kill me, they follow my family and wouldn't know what to do without a mutual leader. The Sky Knight Council is honorable, but they could stoop to ending the war under handedly. All I know, is that someone wants me dead." Master Cyclonis stared back into the eyes of the Dark Ace.

Finally, he lowered his gaze. His hand found the familiar place over his heart. "As you command, Master Cyclonis."

The next three months would be hell.

To be continued…..

Okay, because I can't figure out how to fit this explanation into the story, here's how I see the Terra Cyclonia actually supporting a population. The people under Cyclonian rule live in the Wasteland, below the clouds. The area has been cleared out, and is sometimes built out of the reach of jumping lava worms. There is a small city around the Terra in that fashion. Therefore, Cyclonis rules the army, and an actual people.

Not a lot of Atmosia realizes that people live in the Wasteland, or that Cyclonia is bigger than it seems. (In fact, I would saw none, but I have yet to determine that). Therefore, there is an anonymous council that helps to rule in times of war (the people need to be represented, after all). There are crystals that provide light, because the sun can't penetrate the clouds.

This explanation satisfies me, because it explains how so many people can live in a palace/fortress. They don't, they commute. It also explains why the Cyclonian army has sustained numbers, instead of being built up of deserters from Atmosia.

Yeah, Chapter 2 feels like a filler, but there is some material covered that could be helpful in future chapters. And I should point out, EXPECT HECTIC COLLEGE LIFE to mess with the updates.


End file.
